diff --git a/pkg/parser/defaults.go b/pkg/parser/defaults.go
index 011b2b8..d876803 100644
--- a/pkg/parser/defaults.go
+++ b/pkg/parser/defaults.go
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ const DefaultSeverityThreshold = models.SeverityMedium
 
 func NewDefaultConfig() *models.Configuration {
 	return &models.Configuration{
-		SeverityThreshold:      DefaultSeverityThreshold,
+		SeverityThreshold:      "",
 		IgnoreDirs:             []string{},
 		IgnorePaths:            []string{},
 		Code:                   models.Code{},
diff --git a/pkg/parser/parse.go b/pkg/parser/parse.go
index e3186b7..24d13b0 100644
--- a/pkg/parser/parse.go
+++ b/pkg/parser/parse.go
@@ -18,9 +18,8 @@ func ParseConfiguration(data []byte) (*models.Configuration, error) {
 }
 
 func sanitizeConfig(config *models.Configuration) {
-	config.SeverityThreshold = strings.ToUpper(config.SeverityThreshold)
-	if config.SeverityThreshold == "" {
-		config.SeverityThreshold = DefaultSeverityThreshold
+	if config.SeverityThreshold != "" {
+		config.SeverityThreshold = strings.ToUpper(config.SeverityThreshold)
 	}
 
 	for name, n := range config.Notifications {
diff --git a/pkg/parser/parse_test.go b/pkg/parser/parse_test.go
index b11bc46..6cd438e 100644
--- a/pkg/parser/parse_test.go
+++ b/pkg/parser/parse_test.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ func TestParseConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "default values",
 			data: "",
 			expected: &models.Configuration{
-				SeverityThreshold: models.SeverityMedium,
+				SeverityThreshold: "",
 				IgnoreDirs:        nil,
 				IgnorePaths:       nil,
 				SecretsWhitelist:  nil,
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func TestParseConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "user provided empty severity_threshold",
 			data: "severity_threshold: ''",
 			expected: &models.Configuration{
-				SeverityThreshold: models.SeverityMedium,
+				SeverityThreshold: "",
 				IgnoreDirs:        nil,
 				IgnorePaths:       nil,
 				SecretsWhitelist:  nil,
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ func TestParseConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "user provided a single secret",
 			data: `secrets_whitelist: ["password"]`,
 			expected: &models.Configuration{
-				SeverityThreshold: models.SeverityMedium,
+				SeverityThreshold: "",
 				IgnoreDirs:        nil,
 				IgnorePaths:       nil,
 				SecretsWhitelist:  []string{"password"},
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ func TestParseConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "user provided empty secret whitelist",
 			data: `secrets_whitelist: `,
 			expected: &models.Configuration{
-				SeverityThreshold: models.SeverityMedium,
+				SeverityThreshold: "",
 				IgnoreDirs:        nil,
 				IgnorePaths:       nil,
 				SecretsWhitelist:  nil,
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func TestParseConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "user provided empty ignore patterns",
 			data: `ignore_paths: `,
 			expected: &models.Configuration{
-				SeverityThreshold: models.SeverityMedium,
+				SeverityThreshold: "",
 				IgnoreDirs:        nil,
 				IgnorePaths:       nil,
 				SecretsWhitelist:  nil,
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ func TestParseConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "user provided glob in ignore patterns",
 			data: `ignore_paths: ["*d"]`,
 			expected: &models.Configuration{
-				SeverityThreshold: models.SeverityMedium,
+				SeverityThreshold: "",
 				IgnoreDirs:        nil,
 				IgnorePaths:       []string{"*d"},
 				SecretsWhitelist:  nil,
diff --git a/pkg/validator/severity_test.go b/pkg/validator/severity_test.go
index 11f89c0..82a8993 100644
--- a/pkg/validator/severity_test.go
+++ b/pkg/validator/severity_test.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ func TestValidateSeverityThreshold(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name:     "default configuration",
 			config:   parser.NewDefaultConfig(),
-			expected: true,
+			expected: false,
 		},
 		{
 			name:     "empty SeverityThreshold",